Sankalp Gupta wins Joytu Sheikh Hasina International GM 2021

by Shahid Ahmed - 29/09/2021

IM Sankalp Gupta scored an unbeaten 7.0/9 to win Joytu Sheikh Hasina International GM 2021. He finished a half point ahead of the competition. Five players finished at 6.5/9 and they were placed second to sixth respectively. They are - IM Mitrabha Guha, IM Aronyak Ghosh, IM Sayantan Das, GM Ziaur Rahman and GM Masoud Mosadeghpour. Sankalp won US$ 4000 (approx ₹297000), Mitrabha received US$ 2500 (approx. ₹185000) and Aronyak got (₹111000). Sankalp gained 13.4 Elo rating points, Mitrabha 11.6 and Aronyak increased 5.4 rating points. Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

Five players finish at 6.5/9

We reached out to the winner IM Sankalp Gupta and asked his thoughts on winning the tournament, "Thanks a lot, it feels great to win the tournament. Played some good games and managed to defend some very worse positions." He also added, "My game against Mitrabha is my favorite, it was the crucial game as he was on 5/5." - Sankalp on his favorite game of the tournament.

Champion - IM Sankalp Gupta 7.0/9 | Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

Sankalp performed at 2550 and gained 13.4 Elo rating points

2nd - IM Mitrabha Guha 6.5/9 | Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

3rd - IM Aronyak Ghosh 6.5/9 | Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

The tournament logo | Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

Round 7: Sankalp - Sayantan: 1-0

IM Sayantan Das opted for a side variation, which made the position slightly dicey early in the opening.

Position after 11...d4

The game continued 12.Bxc6 dxc3 13.Bd5+ e6 14.Bc4 cxd2+ and Black managed to get back in the game.

Position after 22.Rf1

22...Rc3 would have been a better option than 22...Be8 23.Nd2 Bc5 and retreat both bishops. Sankalp managed to turn things around and win the game.

Sankalp gained sole lead 6.0/7 | Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

Ghaem - Nubairshah: 0.5-0.5

IM Nubairshah Shaikh sacrificed a knight which was made interesting as his opponent GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan (IRI) decided to accept it.

Position after 22...Nxe3

White decided to accept the sacrifice 23.fxe3 which gave Black a huge initiative. The game continued 23...Ra8 and White managed to save the day, 24.Qxc6+. Find out what Black should have done instead.

Nubairshah had a good opportunity to beat Iran's first GM in history | Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

Neelash - Sumets: 0.5-0.5

IM Neelash Saha drew with the top seed of the tournament GM Andrey Sumets (UKR).

Sammed - Deep: 0.5-0.5

IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete had a wild game against GM Deep Sengupta. The evaluation kept changing back and forth. The game eventually ended in a draw.

Malakhatko - Subhayan: 0-1

After a lot of maneuvering, GM Vadim Malakhatko (BEL) finally made a mistake.

Position after 46.Nd2

46.Nd2 removed the support of the c2-bishop which allowed take the advantage of the pin on the b1-h7 diagonal as he played 46...Nxd5 and soon got the upper hand. White lost all the weak pawn and eventually the game too.

GM Vadim Malakhatko (BEL) lost to Subhayan Kundu | Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

IM Srijit Paul defeated GM Alexey Kislinsky (CZE) in just 27 moves | Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

Round 8: Nubairshah - Sankalp: 0.5-0.5

IM Sankalp Gupta made a great save against fellow countryman IM Nubairshah Shaikh.

Position after 44...Qg7

White should have played 45.Rd8 here instead of 45.Qd1 to maintain the advantage, since Black king is relatively weaker and more vulnerable. Sankalp managed to defend the position and make a draw.

IM Nubairshah Shaikh had a well contested draw with IM Sankalp Gupta | Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

Subhayan - Aronyak: 0-1

Subhayan was cruising towards a draw against IM Aronyak Ghosh, until the former blundered in the final moments of the game.

Position after 39...Rc1+

The only move to save the game for White was 40.Kb3. White unfortunately played 40.Kd2 and lost the game because of 40...Rd1+.

Subhayan Kundu almost held IM Aronyak Ghosh to a draw | Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

Bangladesh no.2 GM Ziaur Rahman was held to a draw by IM Srijit Paul | Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

GM Andrey Sumets (UKR) lost to Sanket Chakravarty | Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

Sayantan - Ghaem: 1-0

IM Sayantan Das scored a nice win over GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan (IRI).

IM Sayantan Das defeated GM Ghaem Maghamai Ehsan (IRI) | Photo: Bangladesh Chess Federation

Deep - Neelash: 0-1

GM Deep Sengupta and IM Neelash Saha had an exciting finish which could have gone either player's way.

Position after 32.Qxc6

Black is completely winning here. 32...Nxc3 33.Rxc3 e3 and Black should win this. However, probably due to time trouble, the game continued 32...e3 which gave White a chance to fight back. Can you find out what White could have done?

Round 9: Mosadeghpour - Mitrabha: 1-0

Mitrabha got himself a good position against GM Masoud Mosadehpour (IRI). A draw in the final round would have made Mitrabha the champion, since Sankalp made a quick draw and had less tie-breaks.

Position after 18.Rab1

18...Rc4 followed by Qc7 keeps things in control for Black. Shortly Black sacrificed an exchange when he could have kept things in balance and eventually lost the game.

Srijit - Sayantan: 0-1

IM Srijit Paul lost an exciting encounter against IM Sayantan Das.

Highlights

Here are a few interesting finishes from Round 7-9:

IM Srijit Paul defeated GM Alexey Kislinsky (CZE), Round 7

GM Andrey Sumets (UKR) lost to Sanket Chakravarty, Round 8

FM Sheikh Nasir Ahmed(BAN) lost to IM Asyl Abdyjapar (KGZ), Round 8

Replay the Live stream

Joytu Sheikh Hasina International Grandmasters Chess Tournament 2021 Round 9 Live stream | Video: Bangladesh Chess Federation

Replay Round 7-9 games

Round 9 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Gr	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Gr	FED	Rtg	No.
1	8	IM	Sankalp Gupta		IND	2433	6½	½ - ½	6	IM	Aronyak Ghosh		IND	2440	7
2	4	GM	Mosadeghpour Masoud		IRI	2486	5½	1 - 0	6½	IM	Mitrabha Guha		IND	2467	5
3	13	IM	Neelash Saha		IND	2418	5½	½ - ½	5½	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh		IND	2432	9
4	21	IM	Srijit Paul		IND	2312	5½	0 - 1	5½	IM	Das Sayantan		IND	2431	10
5	25		Sanket Chakravarty		IND	2243	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Rahman Ziaur		BAN	2424	12
6	29		Sourath Biswas		IND	2219	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Malakhatko Vadim		BEL	2447	6
7	11	IM	Koustav Chatterjee		IND	2431	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Hossain Enamul		BAN	2402	17
8	16	IM	Abdyjapar Asyl		KGZ	2409	5	½ - ½	5		Subhayan Kundu		IND	2301	22
9	20	GM	Kislinsky Alexey		CZE	2328	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Sumets Andrey		UKR	2541	1
10	2	GM	Ghaem Maghami Ehsan		IRI	2536	4½	1 - 0	4½	FM	Rahman Md. Taibur		BAN	2199	32
11	18	IM	Mohammad Fahad Rahman		BAN	2339	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Sengupta Deep		IND	2527	3
12	31	WIM	Arpita Mukherjee		IND	2206	4½	0 - 1	4½	IM	Sammed Jaykumar Shete		IND	2412	14
13	15	GM	Zubarev Alexander		UKR	2409	4½	1 - 0	4½	FM	Piyumantha M Sasith Nipun		SRI	2231	27
14	19	IM	Lodhi Mahmood		PAK	2334	4	0 - 1	4	CM	Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan		SRI	2197	33
15	23	FM	Subrota Biswas		BAN	2282	4	0 - 1	4	FM	Ahmed Sheikh Nasir		BAN	2185	34

Details

Final standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5	Rp	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	8	IM	Sankalp Gupta		IND	2433	2433	7,0	0,0	45,0	49,5	2356	5	2550	9	7	5,66	1,34	10	13,4
2	5	IM	Mitrabha Guha		IND	2467	2467	6,5	0,0	49,5	54,0	2423	6	2561	9	6,5	5,34	1,16	10	11,6
3	7	IM	Aronyak Ghosh		IND	2440	2440	6,5	0,0	44,5	48,5	2331	4	2478	9	6,5	5,96	0,54	10	5,4
4	10	IM	Das Sayantan		IND	2431	2431	6,5	0,0	44,5	48,0	2399	6	2532	9	6,5	5,19	1,31	10	13,1
5	12	GM	Rahman Ziaur		BAN	2424	2424	6,5	0,0	43,5	47,5	2339	4	2476	9	6,5	5,78	0,72	10	7,2
6	4	GM	Mosadeghpour Masoud		IRI	2486	2486	6,5	0,0	42,0	45,5	2319	5	2470	9	6,5	6,54	-0,04	10	-0,4
7	9	IM	Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh		IND	2432	2432	6,0	0,0	45,0	49,5	2397	4	2491	9	6	5,22	0,78	10	7,8
8	13	IM	Neelash Saha		IND	2418	2418	6,0	0,0	41,5	45,0	2324	5	2421	9	6	5,74	0,26	10	2,6
9	6	GM	Malakhatko Vadim		BEL	2447	2447	6,0	0,0	41,0	44,5	2311	4	2419	9	6	6,27	-0,27	10	-2,7
10	22		Subhayan Kundu		IND	2301	2301	5,5	0,0	47,5	50,5	2372	4	2410	9	5,5	4,08	1,42	20	28,4
11	21	IM	Srijit Paul		IND	2312	2312	5,5	0,0	44,5	48,0	2345	4	2386	9	5,5	4,49	1,01	20	20,2
12	11	IM	Koustav Chatterjee		IND	2431	2431	5,5	0,0	44,0	47,5	2375	4	2423	9	5,5	5,49	0,01	10	0,1
13	3	GM	Sengupta Deep		IND	2527	2527	5,5	0,0	43,5	48,0	2348	4	2407	9	5,5	6,65	-1,15	10	-11,5
14	14	IM	Sammed Jaykumar Shete		IND	2412	2412	5,5	0,0	41,0	44,5	2357	4	2406	9	5,5	5,41	0,09	10	0,9
15	2	GM	Ghaem Maghami Ehsan		IRI	2536	2536	5,5	0,0	41,0	44,5	2296	4	2347	9	5,5	7,07	-1,57	10	-15,7

Details

Links

Bangladesh Chess Federation

Related news:

	Sankalp Gupta wins 2nd Barbera del Valles 2021 Masters @ 30/11/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	2nd Barbera del Valles 2021 Masters R1-5: Sankalp Gupta in sole lead @ 26/11/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Breaking News: Sankalp Gupta becomes the 71st Grandmaster of India @ 07/11/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Joytu Sheikh Hasina GM R4-6: Mitrabha and Sankalp in the lead 5.0/6 @ 25/09/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Joytu Sheikh Hasina GM R1-3: Mitrabha, Nubairshah and Sayantan in a three-way lead 3.0/3 @ 22/09/2021 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Sankalp, Ajay, Utsab, Soham and Divya lead after round 8 in 44th National Sub-Junior 2018 @ 23/07/2018 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Commonwealth 2018 Round 5+6: Sankalp Gupta's phenomenal run @ 01/07/2018 by Sagar Shah (en)
	Orange City boy Sankalp Gupta makes his first IM norm @ 09/01/2017 by Harsh Kanoje (en)